


Can't Keep a Secret

by moretomhardy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Derek Hale, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Monster of the Week, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 03:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17175122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretomhardy/pseuds/moretomhardy
Summary: “We have you surrounded,” Derek snarled at the mage. An arrow flew out of the trees to plant itself it the dirt next to the mage’s foot, underscoring Derek’s words. “If you come with us peaceably, we will not harm you.”OrThe pack corners a hostile mage in the Preserve, who stabs Derek with a magic dagger in a last-ditch escape attempt. Can Stiles and the pack figure out how to break the spell before Derek bleeds out?





	Can't Keep a Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://otpdisaster.tumblr.com/post/170355621540/person-b-stabbed-by-a-magical-poisonous-dagger) by [otpdisaster](http://otpdisaster.tumblr.com) on tumblr (it's spoilerific).

“We have you surrounded,” Derek snarled at the mage. An arrow flew out of the trees to plant itself it the dirt next to the mage’s foot, underscoring Derek’s words. “If you come with us peaceably, we will not harm you.”

“Is that so?” the mage chuckled, seeming completely at ease.

Stiles tensed from his place in Derek’s shadow and reached out to put a steadying hand between Derek's shoulder blades. "Give it up, man," Stiles called. "It's not just wolves here, you don't have a way out."

"There's always a way out." Flames flickered around the mage's hands and forearms for a moment. Derek's back vibrated with a growl and the mage’s face twisted into a smile. "With werewolves it's easier than usual. All you have to do" -- something flashed in the mage's hand -- "is cut off the head." The mage threw the object in his hand straight at Derek.

Derek moved to catch the weapon, and he should have, easily, but somehow it got passed him and buried itself between Derek's ribs. Derek hunched over and went crashing down to his knees with a hurt little huff and Stiles was done playing around. Stiles' hands burst into flames and the mage copied him with a wide grin.

"Stiles, calm down," Scott shouted at the same time Allison shot an arrow through one of the mage's hands. The mage's smile melted into a snarl as he ripped the arrow out of his palm, leaving a ragged hole behind.

Derek huffed out a shuddering breath and toppled over to his side with a groan.

"What did you do to him?" Stiles growled, stepping over Derek to confront the mage.

"It's just a dagger with a little pain spell," the mage smirked. "Would be easy enough to remove if only your alpha were a little more lovable."

"Somebody get that out of him," Stiles snapped, stalking closer to the mage. He chanced a quick glance behind himself to see Erica crouching next to Derek and rolling him gently onto his back. He felt a shift in energy in front of him and snapped his attention back to his front in time to see Lydia stepping out of the woods behind the mage. She took a deep breath in and Stiles believed a force field into existence just in time to catch Lydia's scream and concentrate it around the mage, knocking the mage out cold before he could react. Allison leaped out of the trees and ran to secure the mage while Stiles twisted back towards Derek.

"I can't get it out," Erica panted from where she knelt over Derek.

"What do you mean?" Stiles ran the few steps back and slid down to his knees opposite Erica.

"I mean," Erica reached out to grab the handle of whatever blade was embedded in Derek's lung, "I can't get it out." She tugged and Derek's back bowed with a sickening squelch as he screamed through his teeth. The handle didn't move an inch.

"Shit," Stiles hissed. He looked back towards where Allison was finishing a hog tie on the unconscious mage. "Let's get him to Deaton."

Boyd stepped up behind Erica. "I'll carry him." Erica moved out of the way so Boyd could bend down and ease Derek into his arms. Derek clutched at Boyd's shoulders, a drop of blood dripping down from his nose as he tried to breathe deeply.

"Hurry," Stiles snapped. "And someone bring that piece of shit," he jerked his thumb back at the mage, "once he wakes up we can make him talk."

Erica nodded and went to pick up the mage while Boyd followed Stiles to his Jeep, gently laying Derek along the back seat before climbing into the passenger side.

"We'll figure this out," Boyd said while Stiles gunned it and Derek groaned in the back seat. "Derek's the most resilient person I know, I'm sure he'll hang on long enough for us to fix this."

Stiles shook his head and pushed the Jeep to go a little faster.

===

It was just after closing when they poured into Deaton's office, the waiting room blessedly empty but the man himself still there.

"Deaton!" Stiles barked as he pushed through the swinging half-door in the counter and held it for Boyd, who was carrying Derek again. "We caught that mage out in the woods, but not before he did damage to Derek."

Boyd laid Derek out on the exam table while Deaton emerged from one of the back rooms, wiping his hands on a towel. Derek's breathing was labored and a sheen of sweat covered his skin.

"I see." Deaton walked up to Derek and ripped his shirt open wider around the wound. "I am assuming this blade is the crux of the issue?"

"Yeah." Stiles started pacing while Boyd took one of Derek's hands and started pulling his pain. "He said there was a pain spell on the weapon, and then something about Derek not being lovable."

"Love?" Deaton's eyes darted up to pin Stiles in place. "Is the mage still alive? What exactly did he say?"

"He's alive," Isaac said as he lead Lydia and Erica into the room, "but he's still knocked out cold."

Stiles dug the heels of his hands into his eyes while Lydia piped up, "He said the dagger would be easy to remove if only Derek were a little more lovable."

"Hm." Deaton prodded at the skin around the wound while Derek took shallow, wet-sounding breaths. "That's still quite vague, I'm not sure where to start looking for antidotes. There's no inflammation or discoloration of the skin here that would indicate a poison. It would seem he's simply bleeding out because his body can't close the wound while the blade is still inside." Deaton gripped the handle and gave it a tug; Derek wheezed and spasmed on the table before lurching over onto his side and coughing up a clot of blood. Deaton pressed his lips together and stared at Derek's pale face. "I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time for experimentation."

"We have to try something! We can't just let him die." Stiles' voice cracked and Erica stepped up to squeeze his hand before moving over to Derek, taking the hand Boyd wasn't holding and pulling the pain that she could.

"We can try a few common remedies, but unless the mage who did this wakes up, It's not likely that we succeed."

"Start trying," Erica snarled. "He doesn't have time for you to waste hemming and hawing."

"And he also hasn't got time for me to waste making a remedy that won’t work," Deaton replied mildly as he slid a book off a shelf and started pulling ingredients out of a cabinet. "Stiles, if you could prepare the drought for recovery in that book, I'll get started on the remedy for healing."

Stiles joined Deaton at the counter, mixing ingredients and believing magic into existence. The only sounds in the room were those of the mortar and pestle, boiling liquids, and Derek's ever-more-labored breaths.

Deaton finished his potion first, which he applied as a poultice around the wound. There was no effect. Boyd grabbed the knife handle and tugged, but the blade was as fixed in Derek's side as ever.

Stiles finished his potion a few moments later and he scooted around Erica to prop Derek's head up with shaking hands. "Hey, big guy, can you drink this for me?"

Derek grimaced at the taste, but he swallowed the whole potion down with a couple of breaks in the middle to catch his breath.

Boyd caught the knife handle again and pulled to no avail.

"No," Stiles choked.

Erica grabbed the knife and tried again, but all that did was cause Derek to writhe on the table. Derek's breaths were shorter than ever, and his skin had gone very pale; there was a pool of blood beneath the table from the gash in Derek's side.

"What else can we try?" Stiles asked, stroking his thumb along Derek's stubbled jaw.

Deaton shook his head, mouth pinched. "Maybe a poultice for relaxation," he muttered as he turned back to his book.

"He's just shooting in the dark, isn't he?" Erica looked up at Stiles, tears pooling in her eyes.

Stiles bit his lips and nodded, tears of his own pricking behind his eyelids.

"Couldn't ask for a better way to die," Derek coughed out between shallow gasps.

"What," Stiles choked out a painful laugh, "killed too young as a last 'fuck you' from a vengeful, murderous mage?"

"No." Derek closed his eyes and coughed again, fluttering his eyelids open with what looked like considerable effort. "Here with my pack."

A tear overflowed Stiles' eye and went sliding down his cheek.

"It'll go to one of you," Derek continued, squeezing Erica and Boyd's hands. "Boyd has been most like my second, but--" Derek paused to cough again, a deep, rattling thing, and Isaac let out a sob from behind Stiles, "but the Hale line has always favored women."

"Shut up," Erica said, voice thick. "You're not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry," Derek mumbled, barely audible.

More tears spilled down Stiles' cheeks as he reached down to yank on the knife himself. It slid out easily in his hand, the wicked, curved blade leaving a bloody gash behind in Derek's skin. Stiles stared at the dagger and Derek coughed in surprise, bright blood bubbling up out of the wound.

Isaac made a wounded noise and rushed forward to check the injury while the others were frozen in shock. "I think he's healing," Isaac said, wiping away the blood to reveal skin knitting itself together from the inside.

"Shit." Stiles stumbled back to lean against the counter, bloody knife still in his hand.

"Could I examine the weapon?" Deaton asked. Stiles handed it over without a word to let Deaton hum and tut over it. "The inscription here," Deaton said after wiping away Derek's blood, "I believe that's what the mage was referring to with his taunt. On the one side is the pain spell he mentioned, and on this side it reads ‘to remove only by truest love.’"

Stiles couldn't help the hysterical giggle that bubbled out of his throat. Of all the ways for his crush on Derek to be revealed, this wasn't one he had thought of. He looked up to find Derek staring straight back at him, lips curled into an exhausted smile.

"Did you just save my life with true love?" Derek rasped.

"Uh," Stiles winced, "it's kinda looking that way."

"I'm guessing this isn't a platonic situation, since Erica and Boyd couldn't get it out?"

Stiles shook his head, biting his lips while he watched Boyd squeeze Derek's bicep.

"Then how about I take you out to dinner sometime next week when I don't feel like I just died."

Erica burst into laughter while Stiles blinked at Derek.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Yeah," Derek sighed, "that's exactly what I'm doing."

Stiles stumbled across the short distance to the exam table and leaned down to kiss Derek on the mouth. Derek licked up between Stiles' lips for a moment before turning his face away.

"I meant it about the feeling dead thing. I need someone to help me get home so I can sleep for a year."

"You better not do that," Stiles grinned, "or you'll miss our date."

Derek rolled his eyes and Stiles kissed his eyebrow.

"Come on, alpha," Erica cut in, tugging on the front of Derek's shirt, "I'll drive you home."

Stiles stood back to let Erica and Boyd get Derek off the table and balanced on his feet between the two of them, Derek leaning heavily on their shoulders and Isaac fretting from beside Erica.

"Come on, everyone home." Derek jerked his chin toward the exit and Stiles lead the way out of the exam room, holding the mountain ash counter open for the wolves. They all said their goodbyes and let Allison and Scott know they could take the still-unconscious mage back for Chris to deal with before Stiles helped Erica and Boyd load Derek into the Camaro, which Erica had driven over from the preserve.

"I'll be over tomorrow to check on you," Stiles said to Derek, leaning through the window. He looked up at Erica. "Do you want me to follow and give you a ride home?"

"Nah, somebody's got to keep an eye on this guy tonight." Erica patted Derek's knee.

"Boyd?" Stiles asked.

Boyd shook his head. "I'd rather run home. Still feeling kind of amped up after all that."

"Alright." Stiles leaned in to plant a kiss on Derek's mouth. "See you tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it," Derek murmured.

"Get out of here," Erica grinned, "you're making me sick."

Stiles laughed and pulled himself out of the Camaro's window, patting the door and stepping back to let Erica drive away. He grinned and skipped back to his Jeep, tumbling inside and only feeling mildly displeased about the new bloodstains on the back seat. He couldn't stop smiling like an idiot all the way back home.

**Author's Note:**

> Full prompt was:  
> "Person B stabbed by a magical poisonous dagger that can only be removed by someone who truly loves them. No one knows this fact as B writhes in excruciating pain, but right before Person B takes their last gasp of air, Person A yanks out the blade with ease."
> 
> Come visit me on [tumblr](http://moretomhardy.tumblr.com) or [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/moretomhardy)! My pillowfort is still very much a work in progress, but I'm looking for people to follow, so hmu over there if you're a sterek blog.


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